Major Movements In American Literature

1) Considering the plot and subject matter of Murfree’s novel, “The Prophet of the Great Smokey Mountains” it can be assumed that the novel had been influenced by the literary movement called Regionalism. This movement emerged as an outcome of different events that were shaping the political domain of the United States including the post-Civil War changes and the changes that took place in the nineteenth century. It must be noted that “the Civil War and westward expansion created numerous changes in society and politics. American artists turned to realism and regionalism to comment on the new concerns of the time period such as the ongoing struggle of the working class as well as the societal elevation of the middle class” (Prize, 2010). Regionalist writers urged to present their regional experience from within, and they desired to do so to engage the readers’ sympathy in the course of reading (Satterwhite, n.d.). And such a desire can be found specifically in Murfree’s novel, “The Prophet of the Great Smokey Mountains”. Regionalist fiction usually focuses on the characters, dialect, customs, topography, etc of a specific region (“Regionalism and Local Color Fiction, 1865-1895”, n.d.), and judging from this perspective too, it can